


everybody wants to rule (the world)

by itsallanoxymoron



Series: lorde help us (zombies verse) [1]
Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Zombie Apocalypse, Alternate Universe - Zombies, F/M, M/M, OT3, Post-Zombie Apocalypse, Zombie Apocalypse, eventual OT3, nightmares + comfort, ot3: the damerons, the first order is wckd pretty much
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-10
Updated: 2016-03-22
Packaged: 2018-05-24 15:24:31
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,331
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6158038
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/itsallanoxymoron/pseuds/itsallanoxymoron
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Rey moves forward swiftly, pulling a dagger from her boot and pressing it against Bala-Tik's thigh. She looks him in the eyes. “If you touch either one of them, I will destroy you and your little merry band. I don't care what happens.”</p><p>[aka the zombie apocalypse au you didn't ask for but that you're getting anyways]</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. welcome to your life

**Author's Note:**

> i wrote this just because i wanted a scene where rey was very protective of her boys (((: like people were trying to threaten poe and finn and rey was like "nice try hon" and thus this au was born
> 
>  
> 
> so this was heavily influenced by the movie version of the maze runner series (i haven't read the books)—as i'm sure you'll be able to tell, what with the first order being very wckd and all
> 
> title from the song by the same name, of course. all chapter titles are lyrics from the song

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finn and Poe and Rey, in a universe not too far away.
> 
> (I will always find you.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> anyways, i'm thinking that this will either be a two- or three-parter, depending on how long i write the rest of this fic because i haven't finished yet

 

 

 

i.

When the disease is discovered in California, Rey's parents disappear.

They do not come back.

 

ii.

Finn is offered up early like a sacrificial lamb to the First Order when his mother hears the word _cure_  traveling like smoke through refugee camps.

“Take him,” she pleads. She means, _Make him survive_. (After all, children are humanity's best hope.)

 

iii.

Poe Dameron is six years old when the disease hits, and he does not remember any other way of life before it. 

The world goes to hell. The zombie apocalypse, they say, and it is partly true. The disease begins in Asia—whether because of the large population count or the amount of closely compacted germs, there are no more scientists left to guess (not officially, anyways, and no one to tell the news besides)—and spreads to the rest of the world, rapidly. It hits the remote corners of the world last, given their slower transportation of different peoples.

Mass paranoia follows. Riots break out. Some people think it is the beginning of the Second Coming. Others believe it is Darwin's theory at work. A little less than half of the world's population falls to the disease in the first year. 

Many animals disappear. They could smell the disease from miles away, and only pick at the weaker humans if they are _very_ desperate. They can't get sick, as far as Poe could tell, but they didn't like the zombies. (Poe's chihuahua, BB-8, certainly doesn't.)

The First Order thought that was a clue. Perhaps animals couldn't get sick because there is some hidden gene in their DNA, something that they could use to create their own cure. But there wasn't. The simple truth was that FA-VII is a human disease, and therefore animals are not susceptible.

Following the first outbreak of FA-VII, the First Order organized, combining many health and research facilities around the world and uniting them under a common cause. Their original intentions were pure: find a cure. But as time went on, the organization became twisted, corrupt. Humanity is dying out, is becoming extinct, and the First Order will do anything to save mankind—even if it means destroying some of them in the process.

They will stop at nothing to find a cure; they have no moral compass and no qualms about crushing whomever and whatever stands in their way. Poe has heard the stories: they steal children in the night, like villains in a fairytale. They search deep in people they believe might have the cure, demanding blood and tissue samples until there is nothing left. They allow only the strong to survive, and leave the weak to suffer.

The First Order gave way to the Resistance; Poe's parents joined as soon as they heard.

The Resistance is all he knows. It is better than a refugee camp. It's the best thing in the world.

 

iv.

He gets captured, which is surprising. 

Best runner in the Resistance and he somehow manages to get caught by the First Order. Poe sighs. It's just his luck. It was bound to happen sooner or later.

He gets rescued, which is _also_ surprising, especially considering that it's by a stormtrooper—a First Order employee. ( _Employee_ is a very kind term for their workers; sometimes—most of the time—the labor is forced.) The rescue attempt is successful, for which Poe Dameron is extremely grateful.

“What's your name?” he asks, afterwards.

“Um—well, I was called FN-2187,” replies the man underneath the mask. Poe must look puzzled, because he continues, saying, “They gave us names like that, so if you helped find the cure, they would name it after you.” FN-2187 shrugs, nonchalant. “I guess it's a nice thought—it certainly made us want to work harder . . .”

There's a long pause; it is almost uncomfortable.

“Would you mind if I called you something else?” The question is abrupt, and jarring after the silence.

“Like what?” He doesn't remember his old name, his birth name. (He does not remember his mother.)

Poe thinks. “FN, huh? Well, how about Finn?”

The other man thinks for a moment. He thinks that he looks like a Finn. He feels like one. “Finn, yeah. I like that.” The newly-dubbed Finn thinks he means:  _I like you_.

 

v.

They get _sidetracked_ on the way back to base. 

Okay, sidetracked is not the right word. Lost. They get lost on the way back to base. 

“Do you know where you're going?” asks Finn suspiciously. He has a feeling that Poe Dameron is one of those people who refuses to ask for directions—not that there is anyone to ask.

“I know where we are,” his companion replies with an air of selective truth. “Death Valley National Park.”

Finn pales and suddenly feels very cold. It's an extremely ominous name and it obviously cannot be considered good luck that they are stranded and _lost_. “What did you say?”

Poe hands Finn his jacket without comment, as if reading his mind. It's rather warm, despite the fact that it's made of leather, since the other man was just wearing it. It's a nice jacket; Poe is a nice guy. “Death Valley. It used to be the largest national park before—well, before. Now it's just nothing. We should be near the Niima Outpost by now, though, if I'm reading the stars correctly.” He grins.

“You don't know how to read the stars,” laughs the former stormtrooper. Poe's a terrible liar.

“I do! Mostly. But this is the first time I've ever even  _been_ to California. I don't know the area; I've only seen it in pictures and on maps.”

“Sure you have.”

“It's true! Kiss me if I'm wrong.” Poe says the last bit as a joke.

Finn does.

Finn kisses him, partly because he didn't think it was a joke, partly because he's used to following orders and that certainly _sounded_  like one, and partly because, well, he _did_  think Poe was wrong. And, okay, he kisses Poe Dameron mostly because he wants to. Finn's never kissed anyone before and it's a nice feeling—kissing and being kissed back.

They smile.


	2. there's no turning back

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Finn steals water, and the aftermath.
> 
> (If it takes an apocalypse for us to meet, it will have been worth it.)

 

 

 

 

 

 

vi.

Rey with-no-last-name says, “Get in” and they do.

The Niima Outpost is large—larger than Finn expected—and loud. He's never been to an outpost before, has never been anywhere other than First Order bases, so really it's not his fault that he maybe accidentally stole water from someone. His throat was just so dry and he didn't know that you're supposed to pay money for things like that. In the Order, water was rationed and distributed, sure, but Finn doesn't know the rules of the rest of the world.

(He knows how to kill, though. He knows how to fight and maybe he almost does it. Maybe he almost killed that woman he thought was going to kill him first. He looks down at his hands like he doesn't know what they're for; he doesn't.)

But then Rey shows up, looking small but bright like tomorrow in her beat-up Jeep, and she says, “Get in.”

To their credit, Poe and Finn listen.

As soon as the outpost is far behind them and Finn relaxes, their savior demands, “What the hell were you thinking? If you steal from anyone there, you're as good as dead. Those merchants—they've fed people to the infected for less than stealing water. And you—” she points her finger at Poe in the passenger seat, “—were just going to  _let_  him do that? Does your boyfriend have a death wish?”

Finn has the decency to look sheepish and doesn't even register the use of the word  _boyfriend_. “I—” 

“No, you  _clearly_  don't know how things work here. But your friend here—where were  _you_?”

“I—I was writing to someone. To let them know where to find us—Finn and I.” Poe doesn't know if he can trust Rey, even if she saved their lives. He's trusted people before; it hasn't always ended well. 

Then he notices where he is—or, more importantly, what he's  _in_. People rarely have cars nowadays because, before the outbreak, few knew how to fix them up on their own and most of the mechanics died in the second wave. Newer cars are especially hard to come by: they were the first to go, since they were fast and the ones still in lots, waiting to be sold, had full tanks of gas. Gas is hard to come by, too, which is why the Tesla and other hybrids or electronic cars are so especially rare. This Jeep can't be but two or three years old, and there's obvious wear and tear on the outside, but the engine sounds as good as new, from what he can tell.

“You're a runner?” asks Poe, incredulous.

Runners are partly mechanics and partly street-racers—all fast drive, hit-and-run. They search for useful materials and scavenge what they can in their respective vehicles. These days, runners are akin to rock stars, only less well-known and  _much_  more popular, because having a good runner with you increases the likelihood of your survival. 

Besides gathering valuable items, they also fight; Poe has seen guns mounted to cars more often than he cares to admit. (It takes away the beauty.) His fellow runner, Jessika Pava, says that they all have oil in their blood, says that's the reason they don't like being grounded and it's why they like the fight. It's probably true.

Poe thought that all the runners either joined the Resistance or were scooped up by the First Order; he didn't realize that there were some still out there, scattered scavengers, alone.

The girl looks over at him and shows a hint of a smile. He takes it as a yes. “I'm Poe Dameron, also known as the best runner in the Resistance. You may have heard of me?” She shakes her head; Poe frowns while Finn laughs from the backseat. “Well, anyways, I'm a runner, too. I have a 1997 Mazda RX-7; she was my mom's.”

Her eyes light up. “I've read about those!” she says with obvious excitement, momentarily forgetting her scolding. “How does she drive?”

“Beautifully. It's like flying.” That's why his mom chose the car. His parents were pilots before the disease, but no one has much use for aircrafts nowadays. It's hard enough trying to find a boat and even harder to pass through customs in most places.

“I'm Rey,” the driver says with an air of finality after a long moment, as if she's decided something very important. 

From the backseat, Finn smiles and looks at her like she's the sun.

 

vii.

She takes them to her home. Well, she takes them to where she lives. It is a junkyard—a  _literal_  junkyard. 

“Don't you worry about the infected?” asks Finn, looking around suspiciously.

“I can take care of myself,” Rey answers sharply, defensive. “And besides, I could see them coming from a mile away from where I sleep.”

She sleeps on a truck in the center of the junkyard that is on the top of a pile so high that Finn wonders how someone was able to put it there. It looks like it practically defies gravity.

“You'll have to climb up there and stay the night. It's not safe otherwise. Trust me.” (Poe trusts her considerably more than he did earlier; they bonded over cars on the ride.)

Rey pulls her staff from the Jeep and proceeds to set up some sort of system that involves things that seem to be panels. Poe assumes that it's for wind power, but Finn is just  _very_ confused. It could be to convert solar energy but that just doesn't make sense at night. Finn gives up trying to understand; his skill was always less technologically inclined and more medical based.

Finn huffs. “Not to be ungrateful or anything, but you don't happen to have any food or something, do you?” Rey points up—towards her truck—and Finn sighs again.

It's a long-ass climb.

It's a long-ass climb, and all the newly-dubbed Finn gets for his trouble is a can of clam chowder that was warmed by the sun during the day but is rapidly starting to cool down. The truck is more spacious than Finn anticipated but it's still a tight squeeze with three grown-ass adults. (He thought he would be afraid of heights and is glad to find out that he isn't.)

“So,” prompts Rey as she finishes her beef stew, using her lid as a makeshift utensil, “you're with the Resistance? I've never met any Resistance fighters before.” She sounds excited.

“There are no real bases around here,” says Poe, by way of explanation.

“I've always wondered: what are you resisting?” 

Poe shrugs. “The disease. The First Order's disregard for human decency in their search for the cure. The destruction of family values. The 'everyone for themselves' mentality. Take your pick.”

“It's quite a handful,” Finn adds. He stretches and puts his hands behind his head in an attempt to seem impressive. “Whole lot of work. And me and Poe—we're real important people in the Resistance. Top dogs.” He's laying it on thick, he can tell, but, hey, you can't fault someone for having a crush.

To Finn's dismay, Poe laughs. “He's only been in the Resistance for a couple of days; don't listen to him.” Rey raises an eyebrow at him and the ex-stormtrooper has the decency to look a bit sheepish—but only a bit. He shrugs, as if to say,  _Worth a shot._  

“Shouldn't we get some rest?” It's a poor attempt at covering up his slight embarrassment, but no one calls Finn out on it. The other two agree and then it's a mess of limbs as three people try to find a comfortable position in the bed of a truck. They manage, eventually. 

Finn finds it a bit unsettling, at first, sleeping in between two insanely attractive people. But then he sets the feeling aside and falls into a deep sleep—just like that. Stormtroopers can sleep anywhere. Pilots, too, which means that Poe knocks out as soon as everyone stops wriggling around. They are content.

Rey tosses, turns.

The absence of silence is deafening.

The steady breathing of her two companions startles her. Even being here, with them, in the bed of her truck is jarring. They radiate heat that causes Rey's hair to stand on end. She has been alone for as long as she can remember, so even this small amount of human contact is alien. She lays on her back and slowly tries to scoot away, but then Finn throws one arm around her unknowingly, snoring slightly, and she frowns. Now Rey just feels  _awkward_.

It takes her a  _long_  time to fall asleep.

 

viii.

The scream startles them both awake. Poe Dameron thrashes violently in his sleep. He screams only once, bone-chilling, and then it is a murmur, incoherent but filled to the brim with something that Finn and Rey can both recognize. Fear. The air is thick with it.

Finn shakes the other man awake, calling his name repeatedly. “What's wrong? Are you okay? It was just a dream, Poe. Everything is alright. You're safe.”

“Nightmare,” Poe breathes out jaggedly. “I'm sorry for waking you—both of you.” Rey is on the side of the truck opposite him; they could not be farther apart from one another. She is not impassive but she's not entirely empathetic; she feels awkward, again. Rey has had nightmares more times than she's had dreams, but she likes it that way. Dreams are foolish—they cloud the mind. In her world, you live or you die. There is no middle ground. Nightmares keep her focused. In Death Valley, only the strong survive, and Rey is as strong as she needs to be.

So she doesn't know what to do in a situation like this. No one has ever comforted her and she’s never needed to comfort others. The people at the Niima Outpost hadn't been very fond of public displays of affection, either. This is all new to her, foreign. Rey doesn't like it. The unknown has almost killed her on several occasions. 

Finn, at least, has always been very empathetic. It made him a good person but a terrible stormtrooper.  “Do you want to talk about it?” he asks softly.

“Before you broke me out, I was—um, tortured.” Poe says it like the words are tin in his mouth, malleable but difficult. He speaks distantly, as though the experience happened to someone else, some other Poe Dameron in some other universe. “For information, you know. Where our bases were. What the Resistance medics and scientists had discovered about the disease. They wanted anything I had to say. But I'm just a runner—I didn't know anything they wanted to hear.” 

Rey frowns. She doesn't understand. 

“Poe was captured by the First Order,” explains Finn. “I helped him escape, but not before—well.” He sighs. “I used to be a stormtrooper, but then I saw Poe and that's when I decided: I wasn't going to kill for them. I wasn't going to help them hurt others. Even if they think that what they're doing will help them find the cure, it's still wrong. I had to leave.” Poe smiles at him, small, but his eyes are bright and full of gratitude.

She moves over and puts her hand on Poe Dameron’s shoulder. He smiles at her, too.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i don't know anything about cars, so i'm apologizing right now.
> 
> the 1997 mazda rx-7 is one of the cars in tokyo drift because i think it's somewhat close to an x-wing, if the x-wing was a car, and poe would have to drive something fast. he's the best runner in the resistance, after all.
> 
> rey's jeep is kind of like her speeder. she totally put that thing together herself using junk she found, and it's a durable enough car to withstand an apocalypse.
> 
> also, i picture the junkyard (called jakku's junkyard) like those ones with cars just stacked on top of each other like in movies. we'll pretend that the towers of cars are high because of magic or something (i.e. the room of requirement scene in deathly hallows pt 2).


	3. (even while we sleep) we will find you

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Heaven help the person who threatens Poe or Finn's safety.
> 
> (You are safe. You are loved.)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ah, finally. the chapter that started it all.
> 
> aka the one where someone threatens poe and finn and rey becomes a protective mother hen
> 
> (btw this scene did not turn out the way i intended at all. but all's well that ends well, i suppose)

 

ix.

“You should come with us.”

She sighs. It is a tempting offer—the last few days with them has been fun, but . . . “I have to stay. I have to get back to Jakku—to the junkyard. My family—they're waiting for me.”

“I don't remember my family,” Finn says softly. “If you think that they'll come get you, then I think you should stay. But you and Poe—you looked at me like no one ever had. You two feel like family to me.” Rey sighs. “Come with us, please. You can join the Resistance; you don't have to be alone anymore.”

Poe moves towards Rey, his eyes asking permission to rest a hand on her shoulder. “You already know the truth. Whomever you're waiting for at that junkyard, they're never coming back.”

“I know.”

Rey looks away.

 

x.

Rey has had run-ins with the Guavian Death Gang before. They are a group of soldiers that travel across the United States, terrorizing innocents and causing trouble for both the First Order and the Resistance. They respect only two things: strength, and one another.

Rey is not a member of the Guavian Death Gang, but she had refused to be played a fool and have her victories turned into defeats by a group of people who killed the infected and put their heads on spikes like barbarians. She had proven herself to the renegades on multiple occasions and they have friendly, if somewhat strained, relations. Bala-Tik is not a kind man, but he is smart enough to respect power wherever, and in whatever form, he found it. Rey made it very clear that she was not someone to cross.

She worked alone, and that was how she liked it.

Until now. Until Finn and Poe.

The Gang does not approve of people they do not know.

“You know,” Bala-Tik says to Rey, all formal sweetness despite the sharp edge to his words, “the First Order is looking for two fugitives around here. They'll pay a hefty price for them. You wouldn't happen to know where I might be able to find them? I'm just asking, y'know—since scavengers help each other out.”

“No,” answers the runner sharply. “I've no idea. Sorry.”

The Guavian leader laughs. “It's just funny—those two boys you have—they look a  _lot_ like the ones the Order is lookin' for.” He gestures to Poe and Finn, who are standing under a tent guarded by soldiers. They are laughing and sharing a bottle of water, smiling. She can see the guards from where she's sitting with Bala-Tik, and they are carrying guns even though it's not likely there are any infected nearby. She scowls. “It'd be a real shame if you and I missed out on equal shares of sixty portions—or if _something_ were to happen to either one of your fine men.”

 _Sixty_ portions?! That would be more than Rey has seen in a long time. They're dull, tasteless items as far as food is concerned, but one half of a portion contains enough nutrients to last an entire day. For refugees and scavengers alike, portions are invaluable.

But Rey pushes the thought away. She made a promise. She told Finn and Poe that she would help them get back to a Resistance base, so that's what she needs to do. They have no one, and she'll be damned if she abandons anyone the way her family abandoned her.

She moves forward swiftly, pulling a dagger from her boot and pressing it against Bala-Tik's thigh. “And it would be a shame if your gang suddenly found themselves looking for a new leader.” She looks him in the eyes. “If you touch either one of them, I will destroy you and your little merry band. I don't care what happens.”

The look in his eyes is murderous—they do not take kindly to threatening—but Bala-Tik knows Rey well enough that he relents. It is not worth the energy to try and best her. Even if she is outnumbered, there's still a chance she might win. It's happened before.

“I see,” is all he says.

 

xi.

The infected woman has eyes like two gaping pits and a mouth to match. Finn assumes the disease must be progressing into its final stages because her teeth are black and disgusting; deterioration of the host's non-vital organs is always the last step.

Zombies don't need teeth because they don't eat. The virus runs its course for exactly seven days in the hopes that the host has infected as many others as possible.

FA-VII is concerned only with consuming until nothing is left.

As such, the infected are granted superior strength and speed as a result of their brief time as soulless corpses. Hunters always have to be faster than their prey. They can spit a thick, black liquid onto others that seeps into the skin in a matter of seconds until, suddenly, _they_ are infected, too.

The infected woman and her husband—Poe assumes that he's her husband because the gold wedding bands are sharp contrasts against their sickly skin—move closer. Rey has her staff, but Finn and Poe have no weapons except for Rey's knife. No one wants to get too close to the zombies for fear of infection, and the Jeep is too far away to try and escape.

“I knew it was a bad idea to try and find water,” mutters Rey under her breath.

Finn participated in simulations when he was a stormtrooper in the First Order. He was a soldier, so his computer-generated scenarios always involved combat, usually against the infected, but sometimes against Resistance insurgents, too. There were rumors that his commanding officer, Captain Phasma, was grooming him for a position in high authority. He has always been a master strategist, and he hopes—for the first time since his desertion—that his training will be useful.

It is, as it turns out, invaluable.

"Um, any ideas?" Poe asks nervously as the undead couple moves, slowly, toward the trio.

“I've got an idea alright,” answers Finn, “but you're not going to like it.” He takes a deep breath. “Someone can make it to the Jeep, but the other two will have to hold their own against the infected. They'll strike as soon as anyone moves, and there's a possibility someone could get hurt no matter what we do. But I think the woman has a bad hip and that guy seems to have a limp.” He motions to the infected couple. “Which of us is the fastest?”

“Me, probably,” Rey says.

“That works out, since you're the driver. Throw me your staff, please.” She does. “Okay, Rey, we'll hold them off; you make a run for it . . . Now!” She runs, and the infected woman lunges towards Finn.

He hurtles towards her with the staff, and she probably would have been hit square in the chest if not for her inhuman speed. Finn was right about the other one, though—the infected man is slower than his wife, his limp obvious now that he's trying for the offensive. Poe wishes he had a gun—or, hell, even a sword. It would be better than a dagger, which is made for close combat, which is what the infected excel at.

Still, it's better than nothing.

Zombies focus on things in a singular manner: once they decide on a course of action, it's very unlikely to change. They don't notice Rey reach her car and they certainly don't focus on the engine revving up. Poe makes a large X in the air with the dagger in the hopes that his opponent won't step forward. He doesn't, but his wife does. Finn clocks her in the face and she staggers backwards.

He runs towards Poe and attempts to help him out. Stormtrooper weapons training, however, did not include staffs because there was never a possibility that someone might use one. (They were thought of as archaic.) Finn decides that he must be doing an adequate job using it because he's able to knock the zombie off his feet. He's quick to get up, but smart enough to not try and engage again. The woman, though, reaches forwards and she almost has her hands on Poe, since Finn was preoccupied, when Rey comes around with the Jeep.

“Get in,” says Rey, and Poe Dameron grins at her. Those are his favorite words in the world.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i'm shit at action scenes, if you couldn't tell. sorry about that.
> 
> anyways, i guess this is going to be a four-chapter thing since i didn't get to wrap it up in this one.

**Author's Note:**

> thanks to lia and katey and especially tishya! thanks for letting me bounce ideas off of you and for listening to me ramble about the OT3 a lot
> 
> (like tishya i cannot thank you enough. you are responsible for like half of this)


End file.
